RANDNCULACEiE. (CROWFOOT FAMILY.) 9 



orbicular with a minute beak, in a spherical head ; petals large, exceeding the calyx. 

 (Also R. breTicaulis & OTalis, Book.) — Prairies, Michigan and Wisconsin. 

 April, May. — Stems 3' - 6' high, sometimes not longer than the root-leaves. 

 Flower deep yellow, as large as in No. 12. 



8. R. aborttviis, L. (Small-ploweeed Ckowfoot.) Glabrous and 

 very smooth ; primary root-leaves round heart-shaped or kidney-form, barely crenate, 

 the succeeding ones often 3-lobed or 3-parted ; those of the stem and branches 

 3-5-parted or divided, subsessile; their divisions oblong or narrowly wedge- 

 form, mostly toothed ; carpels in a globular head, mucronate with a minute curved 

 beak; petals slwrter than the reflexed calyx. — Shady hill-sides and along brooks, 

 common. April -June. — Stem erect, 6' -2° high, at length branched above, 

 the pale yellow flowers very small in propoi-tion. 



Var. micriilltllUS. Pubescent; root-loaves seldom at all heart-shaped, 

 some of them 3-partod or 3-divided; divisions of the upper stem-leaves more 

 linear and entire; peduncles more slender. (R. micranthus, Nutt.) — Massa- 

 chusetts (near Boston, C. J. Sprague), Michigan, Illinois, and westward. 



9. R. sceler&tUS, L. (Cuksed CnowrooT.) Smooth and glabrous ; 

 root-leaves 3-lobed, rounded ; lower stem-leaves 3-parted, the lobes obtusely cut 

 and toothed, the uppermost almost sessile, with the lobes oblong-linear and near- 

 ly entire ; carpels barely mucronulate, very numerous, in oblong or cylindrical heads ; 

 petals scarcely exceeding the calyx. — Wet ditches ; appealing as if inti'oduced. 

 June -Aug. — Stem thick and hollow, 1° high. Leaves thickish. Juice acrid 

 and blistering. Mowers small, pale yellow. (Eu.) 



10. R. rccurva.tus, Poir. (Hooked Ckowfoot.) Hirsute; leaves 

 of the root and stem nearly alike, long^elioled, deeply 3-cleft, large, the lobes broad- 

 ly wedge-shaped, 2 - 3-cleft, cut and toothed towards the apex ; carpels in a glob- 

 ular head, flat and margined, conspicuously beaked by the long and recurved hooked 

 styles ; petals shorter than the reflexed calyx, pale. — Woods, common. May, June. 

 — Stem 10-2° high. 



4H- ++ ++ Leaves all iernately parted, or compound, the divisimis cleft .* aclienia flat, 

 a. Head of carpels Mxmg : petals pale, not exceeding the calyx, 



11. R. PennsylvdnJcns, L. (Bkisti-y Crowfoot.) Hirsute with 

 rough spreading biistly hairs ; stem stout, erect ; divisions of the leaves stalked, 

 somewhat ovate, unequally 3-cleft, sharply cut and toothed, acute ; carpels 

 pointed with a sharp straight beak. — Wet places, common. June -Aug. — A 

 coarse plant, 2° -3° high, with inconspicuous flowers. 



b. Head of carpels ghbular : petals bright yellow, much larger titan the calyx. 



12. R. fascicul&ris, Muhl. (Eaelt Ckowfoot.) Low, pubescent 

 with close-pressed silky hairs ; root a cluster of thickened fleshy fibres ; radical 

 leaves appearing pinnate, the long-stalked terminal division remote from the ses- 

 sile lateral ones, itself 3 - 5-divided or parted and 3 - 5-cloft, the lobes oblong or 

 linear ; stems ascending ; petals spatulate-oblong, twice the length of the spread- 

 ing calyx ; carpels scarcely margined, tipped with a slender straight or rather 

 cui-vedbeak. — Rocky hills. April, May. — Plant 5' -9' high; the bright yel- 

 low flower 1' broad; petals rather distant, the base scarcely broader than the 

 scale. 



